Summer time in Crawford
29 Jun, 2015
Sunday 21st June 2015 was our longest day of the year and reminds us all that summer is well under way. There is a lot of talk of holidays around the crèche. Some children are already coming back with their tales of their breaks to France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and other counties in Ireland! Thanks so much for the postcards. We love getting them and it is always fun to see whether the child or postcard wins the race back to crèche to tell us the holiday news. Other children are full of plans. Apparently we even have someone flying out to Kenmare!! We…
The most requested book at story time in our toddler room is the Ginger bread Man and it is a firm favourite. Often Seamus, Aine, Robyn, Roisin and Aoife will join in the story telling and sing “Run run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the Ginger bread Man!” The Toddlers love to point at the animals and name them and get very excited when they spot the fox especially. James is always out to spot the fox when he does he says “Look the sneaky fox is going to eat the Gingerbread Man!” in warning. During play the children often…
The toddlers have been talking about cats and often crawl around pretending to be cats. So following this interest the toddlers have set about learning more about them. We have flash cards showing the toddlers what the cats use as furniture such as their beds, bowls and scratching posts. We are discussing what food cats like to eat. Beatriz told us cats like to drink milk. We spoke to some toddlers explaining that cats like to use scratching posts. Seamus kept asking “why” curious to find out more information. Some ideas we came up with included “It feels good” and “Cos they itchy” and “It…
Love is in the air as we all celebrated Valentine’s Day. Here in Crawford we are exploring the emotion that is love. Teaching children all about love will help them develop positive attitudes towards themselves, friends and family. You can show a child how to love by showing affection with hugs, kisses and kind words. It’s important to praise your children regularly it is not just for succeeding, but for who they are and what they are doing (efforts and attempts). Even if your toddler doesn’t manage to do exactly what they set out to do, saying things such as “The way you tried hard…
Gender stereotypes often begin in the pre-school year. Supporting gender equality can really enhance education. Here in Crawford Childcare, Glanmire we provide various aspects of learning and different play opportunities to the children that support this. Harry loves playing in the kitchen and cooking up a storm and also making the teachers a lovely cup of tea with some buns he’s baked. Niamh loves playing with the cars on the garage while Rian and Abigail enjoying folding away the clothes which are part of our Montessori practical life section. Typically, as is everywhere here in Crawford Childcare, some gender differences do occur as it is…
Every week as your refuse is collected – spare a thought for all those discarded cardboard boxes. They can be useful! So, rather than just ignoring that big cardboard box I saw in the staffroom, I decided to give it a chance – a chance at a bright new future and a chance at being a star! The puppet stage was initially meant to be a “news window” where the children could sit down, draw back the curtains and talk about any news they had. This worked for a while but the children soon lost interest. It wasn’t until Maya commented “it looks like a…
Thursday 16th October 2014 I have met so many inspiring adults on my journey to and around Trondheim, Norway both Norwegian and Irish. The group I am travelling with are a wealth of information and knowledge in their own right and include academics, childcare committee representatives, early years practitioners, early years trainers, inspectorate and more. The sharing of our reflections have been a learning experience for us as we explore each other's perspectives. We are also a good looking bunch - just take a look at our group photo! Today started with lectures at Queen Maud University College on the subjects of municipality supervision and…
Any spare frying pans, old pots or plastic bottles????Here at Crawford Childcare in Glanmire we aim to promote outdoor play. We are very fortunate to have 2 large play areas as well as 2 large grass areas. We are currently looking at adding to one of these grass areas to create a play space and garden using natural materials. Many of you have probably spotted the tyres donated by More Tyres and Alan’s Tyres which we are using to define distinct areas as well as the large tractor tyres we use as sand and mud pits donated by one of families at the creche! This…
The toddlers are very busy in their room on a daily basis between circle time, activities, dancing, outdoor play and using their imagination when playing. So what do the toddlers get up to when their Mommies and Daddies are not around? The toddlers enjoy using their imagination and they also look out for each other. We were recently very impressed by the way Zach helped 2 of his friends who had taken a bit of a tumble when they were pretending to be bumper cars and bumped off each other! Zach held out his hand to each of them, helping them to their feet and…
We all know when living in Ireland our summer may only last a week or two and then we are back to high rainfall or we can even get the four seasons in one day. You look out the window to see that it’s raining during these summer months so what activities can you do with young children. There’s no need to struggle for money to take the children out to the cinema or activity centres, in your home there is so much to do with not spending a single cent. Here are some ideas for imaginative indoor play that won’t break the bank. Music…
